Thursday 19 September 2013

Fangirl by Rainbow Rowell

Title: Fangirl 

Author: Rainbow Rowell

Source: Kindle for Android E-Book





Initial Thoughts: This may shove Anna and Lola out of the running for the accolade of my favourite

contemporary novel EVER. It’s that good. It might as well have been written specifically for

members of the online book community, as it’s topic is fan fiction which I reckon is

pretty close to home for all of us lot, am I right?

Anyway, our protagonist is Cather. Her odd name stems from the fact that her mother

didn’t know she was expecting twins, and wasn't bothered to veer from her original choice of name when

she produced two daughters instead of one.  Thus, Cather has an identical sister called

Wren (geddit?). We join the girls on their first day of university at Nebraska State,

where due to Wrens’ sudden thirst for boys and independence, the two will be living

separately for the first time in their lives. Already anxious at leaving their slightly

unstable single father behind, Cather doesn't get off to the best of starts at college.

Shyer than her sister, she finds it easier to hole up in her dorm room and write Simon

Snow fan fiction than she does to put herself put there and make new friends. (Re

Simon Snow, think Harry Potter but with cell phones and more sexual overtones).

Plus, Wren isn't exactly enthusiastic about having her twin tagging along in her wake.

In spite of her social anxiety, Cather still manages to meet not one but two alluring

boys-there’s Levi, the boundlessly cheerful barista who’s sort-of dating her new

roommate and Nick, her inexplicably attractive partner for Advanced Fiction Writing

(in which the professor thinks fan fiction is second only to Fifty Shades of Gray in

terms of pure offensiveness). Neither boy is exactly available, but why do they both

seem to like Cather so much?

So what’s Cather to do? Strike out and try to write her own happy ending, or just

write Simon Snows’ instead?

I’m hardly going to tell you, because it is essential to both your life and general future

happiness that you go out and read this book now this minute. I lifted my e-book

lifetime ban for it, such was its excellence (see previous post circa December 2011 if

you don’t understand the significance of same. Though I hasten to add I also ordered a

hardcover copy through my local independent bookseller to assuage my guilt).

This book is just that good.  I really thought Rainbow Rowell would find it difficult

to match Eleanor and Park for sheer readable brilliance, but this does that and more.

It’s funny, witty and sad- there were times when I would laugh and tear up in the one

paragraph. That’s a skill right there. The characters are also really well crafted-Cather

is sympathetic, heartbreaking and a little infuriating as a narrator, which make her all

the more loveable. Even the supporting cast, like the twins’ neurotic father or Cathers’

fly-by-night roommate Reagan are laugh-out-loud funny and just leap off the page.

I’m not sure if this is Rainbow Rowells’ sophomore or third novel (I can’t place

where Attachments fits in her body of work) but regardless, you can see development

in her craft even since E&P.

In all, this book is just great. Buy it, steal it, borrow it- just read it (and preferably

don’t steal it because we at Kitty’s Bookshelf don’t condone theft of any kind).

Thursday 20 June 2013

Uhhh....

Internet, I'm sorry.
For the three of you who read this (Hi Mam) I have been severely missing in action.
This is all my jobs fault. For those of you who don't know, I work in a bridal registry, and it is not as fun as you might think. Lots of days, it is no fun at all...but I digress.
I have procured many shiny new books over the past couple of months to cheer myself up, and thought I would 'haul' them here (that's a book-person trope, right?).

First: Penelope, by Rebecca Harrington



I actually read this one and it was probably the best book I read in spring. It's totally offbeat and kind of reminded me of 'Starter for Ten' if it had been set in America and if the narrator had been a girl.

Next: The Moon and More' by Sarah Dessen



I absolutely love Sarah Dessen and I have eaten up all of her other books, so I really hope I love this one as much. I haven't read it yet; I'm saving it for when I'm so miserable I might die.

Then: This is What Happy Looks Like 



I didn't love this. It was a good solid contemporary romance, no offence to it, but it's not going to be on my favourites shelf.

I also received all of the following, but they are in my to read pile so I don't have much to say on them yet:



    

I am in an absolute quandary over what to read first as I love Elizabeth Norris' and Sarah Ocklers last books so much, but The Fifth Wave is getting unreal reviews and the Ashley Elston one sound so, so good....decisions....thoughts to be left below!

Oh, and you can get me @KittyLovesDucks on the Twitters